The Polaroid Effect
by Liona Skycat
Summary: Futurefic. Without darkness, light cannot shine. Think about it. After graduating, Yugi Mutou disappeared from the lives of all who knew him. Five years later, he's found. But what is a friend to do when a savior has become a killer?
1. Prologue

**The Polaroid Effect**

A/N: Yar! I torture you by adding yet ANOTHER fic, that is not AC! Mwahahahaha! cough Yeah, still working past that block... and I wrote this spontaneously when I was supposed to be sleeping... so meh! Might as well type it up, eh?

You can sort of... ignore the title. It made sense at the time, but I'm not entirely sure if it still does. shruggs It makes a vague sort of sense.

Can't be sure of the pairings as of yet. There will quite possibly be Yami(Atemu)/Yugi, and maybe, maybe not the other yami/hikari pairings or anything else. It shall be seen later on. It will either be shounen-ai or non-pairing. So yeah. And when it come to names, I mix and match between the Japanese and English versions... cough

Spoilers. noddnodd I foresee spoilers. For like... the end of YGO or so and crud.

Please be reviewing! Now on to fic!  
-

Prologue:

Five years. It had been five years since they had all graduated from Domino High. Longer since the fiasco with the millennium items and the 'yami no games'.

He'd kept in touch. Just a chance encounter here and there, a reunion or two, nothing more. He had a company to run after all, a businessman like himself had little time to pursue high school friendships. In fact if it hadn't been for the experiences they had shared and the urgings of his little brother, he probably wouldn't have bothered at all.

But he'd kept in touch, with all of them. Wheeler and his family, the dog's companions, Tristan and Otogi, Anzu, Ryou Bakura, even the Ishtars. All of them accept one. The person who had played the single most important role in the events of the past.

It had been five years since Yugi Mutou had dropped off the face of the planet.

So when Seto Kaiba walked into a bar while on a business trip to the United States of America, Yugi Mutou was the last person he expected meet. But there he was, sitting on a barstool and sipping a drink.

He look different, enough so that Seto almost didn't recognize his old rival at first glance. But the similarities were still there, though he had to admit, Yugi looked less like himself and more like his other self, Atemu, the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh that had finally left this world, years back.

The first difference he had noticed was the hair. It was shorter now, and solid black, save the golden bangs, no trace of red visible. The duellist was also noticeably taller, even seated, passing the height of his other self by several inches, and had developed a rather dark tan. The biggest difference though, was the air he exuded. Decked out in a leather trench coat, black pants and knee-high, buckle-up boots, Yugi no longer seemed the small, innocent yet brave boy he had once known. Now he felt mysterious, dark... dangerous.

Seto took a seat next to him and ordered a drink. Yugi didn't even give him a sideways glance, ignoring the tall brunette in favour of his drink. Lifting the glass to his lips, the spiky-haired man took a long swallow, then placed it back on the bar top with a loud clink.

There was no change in the man's bored demeanour, so Seto was startled when his companion finally began to speak.

"I'm not going to ask how you've been," Yugi said. "KaibaCorp is all over the news. New world champion, I hear."

Seto sipped his own drink. "The old world champion wasn't around to defend his title."

"I don't suppose he was." The dark-haired man began to mutter under his breath. "Pointless, pointless..."

"Pointless?"

"I already know I'd win. My only real opponent... the only one worth duelling is..."

Yugi broke off, violet eyes narrowing. Seto had a good view of his eyes now, and they too had changed, losing their childlike roundness and having grown slimmer. Another feature that made him more like Atemu than his old self.

He continued, his words developing a bitter edge: "There is no opponent worth duelling."

At another time, Seto might have been offended at being passed off as a worthless opponent, but sitting here with this strange, dark Yugi, he was overcome by the feeling that what the duellist was saying was unmistakeably true. The thought made him shiver.

He decided to change the subject. "How have you been, then, since you seem to know so much about my life? I haven't seen you in person, let alone television."

"That might change soon," Yugi murmured, before answering, "I've been travelling around, doing odd-jobs, killing time."

The smaller man giggled suddenly, as though at some joke only he know. Seto shivered again and a silence fell over them.

Yugi's eyes had changed more than in shape. They had been full of emotion once, brimming with life and energy. Now they seemed dead, dull, and yet... if he looked deep enough he could almost see some sort of hellish fire dancing behind the lifeless shells. Those eyes scared him, scared him in ways he didn't understand and it was then that Seto knew that this wasn't _his_ Yugi. No, this was someone, something else. Something that he didn't like at all.

"What happened to you?" he asked.

Yugi smiled wistfully. "Have you ever looked up at the night sky and though how dark it is, how dark it would be if it weren't for all the stars? But do you know what? If it weren't for all the dark, you wouldn't see any of those stars."

Seto stared at his companion questioningly.

"Without darkness, light cannot shine. Think about it." The dark-haired man snorted, then added. "Life happened to me, Kaiba."

With that, Yugi stood and turned. "I must be going, no time to kill," he called back, then let out another of those secretive giggles. "Well, that might not be the best choice of words."

Seto was left more confused now than he had been from Yugi's disappearance five years ago. He needed another drink.

The next day the news announced that the President of the United States had been murdered in the night.  
-


	2. Chapter One

**The Polaroid Effect**

A/N: OMFG! A new chapter in under a week? Amazing! Though it is a pretty short chapter. P

Mentions of blood and such. Do note that the President of the U.S. in this is a completely fictional character that I haven't even bothered to name. Boowah.

You can sort of... ignore the title. It made sense at the time, but I'm not entirely sure if it still does. shruggs It makes a vague sort of sense.

Unsure pairings. Though I do mention past YugiAnzu-ish-ness gasp Don't worry about it though, it doesn't stick. Names are mix and match Japanese/Western. Spoilers. noddnodd I foresee spoilers. For like... the end of YGO or so and crud.

Thankies to Jaysinya, SoulDreamer, It'sHardTooBelieve, Malik-Ishtal2, Silvershadowfire, Loki's Servant, Red, Dryu, and Weeping Angel (I'm not sure how it's gonna work as of yet. The plot is still a bit vague in my head. And YES! That is what I meant for it to mean in the beginning! You get a cookie! And another for the long review. Long reviews are happy) for your reviews. Apologies for misspelled names.

Please be reviewing! Now on to fic!

-

Chapter 1:

_It wasn't supposed to be this way. Wasn't supposed to turn out like it did. We were all supposed to be happy after it was all over, maybe pause in memory with a touch of sadness for a friend lost once in awhile, but other than that we were supposed to all go on and live happy, fairly normal lives._

_That was the way it was for awhile. We went back to school, my grades improved, nobody picked on me anymore. I even made some new friends, though I suppose being the World's Top Duellist does increase your popularity. The press hounded me for a while, but they mostly gave up in a few weeks, pursuing other more interesting stories._

_We all hung out – even Kaiba on occasions – went to the arcade, out to eat, duelled... just had fun in general! It was a relief after what we'd all been through, and because of what we'd been through I was a different person now. Bolder, brave, ready to pursue my dreams!_

_And for that while, I was happy. And while I was happy I barely noticed that he was gone. I barely noticed, and I was happy._

_Then one day, when I was dressing for my first real date with Anzu I asked, "What do you think, Yami?"_

_And there was no answer._

* * *

Seto Kaiba stared in shock at the television. It wasn't that the President of United States had been murdered that left him so stunned – though that was pretty shocking in itself – it was the feeling that last night's conversation with the long-lost Yugi Mutou suddenly made more sense.

_Impossible!_ He thought, there was simply no way, _no_ way that _Yugi Mutou_ would ever kill someone, let alone the President of the US!

But there _were_ those little giggles, the ones that made him feel as though he were being left out of some inside joke. They had always come after a statement involving killing... _Killing time, no time to kill..._

But no! It couldn't be! Maybe if it was Marik, or even Bakura... but not Yugi!

Only, that Yugi, the one he had met in the bar wasn't Yugi. Not the one he'd known. The Yugi in the bar had been different, dark... he'd scared him as only Marik's dark side had. That Yugi was dangerous.

But could any incarnation of Yugi really be a killer?

He needed to make a call. A call to the last person to see Yugi before he disappeared. A person that had refused to speak of Yugi to anyone since that day.

A cell phone was drawn from his pocket, long fingers dialling in the necessary number. The call would cost a lot, long distance as it was, but then cost wasn't a factor when he was involved. The phone rang.

Once. Twice. Thr-

"Hello?"

"Joey Wheeler?" he asked.

"Yeah, who's this?"

He needed to know.

* * *

Darkly tanned hands turned the page of a newspaper, idly scanning the article with pale lavender eyes. He didn't really give a shit about the American's news, but it was less suspicious than just waiting impatiently for his informant. He flipped to the next page. Ooh, comics.

Chuckling at the antics of the printed characters, Marik glanced up for a moment and scanned the café. Huh, some guy was looking at him funny. Or more specifically at his gold armbands. He gave the guy the finger and a smirk and laughed when the man turned away, flustered.

Another man walked into the café, and sat down across from Marik. The Egyptian lowered his newspaper and glared.

"You're late."

"I know, I know," the man said. "I got stuck in traffic."

"So, it was him, right?"

"Hm?"

The blonde sighed. "My Mystery Killer. He's the one that got your President, right?"

"Yeah," said the man, slipping a photograph onto the table. "They aren't releasing any details to the public. The press assumes that the person behind this is the one responsible for the disappearance of the President's daughter."

"Uhuh." Marik turned the picture to face him. It showed a Duel Monsters card, Sinister Serpent, partly stained by what must've been blood. "Cause of death?"

"Weird. More so than the others. He was found dead in his bedroom by his wife – she'd been out most of the night. Looked like he was beaten to dead by a horde of small children."

The ex-tomb keeper raised an eyebrow. "Children? Well, I must say it's definitely the work of my guy... Anything else to tell me?"

The man shook his head. "The investigation is still underway."

"Well, then I'll leave you." Standing, Marik exited the small café.

"President of the United States..." the Egyptian mumbled to himself, shaking his head. What had he gotten himself into?

_He answered the persistent knock on the door, opening it to reveal a man who looked as though he'd stepped out of a mafia movie._

_"What do you want?" he asked, glaring._

_"Mr. Marik Ishtar?"_

_"Yeah."_

_"My employer has needs for your services."_

_The violet-eyed man paused for a moment then opened the door wider. "Come on in. Have a seat."_

_He took a seat at the dinner table and waited for his visitor to do the same. Marik wasn't worried, he could hold his own, and if not, Rishid was lurking around somewhere._

_"I'm listening."_

_"We've heard that you're expertise lies in handling the... ah, supernatural."_

_"I may have dabbled in the occult. So what?"_

_"Two of our most respected people have recently been... attacked," the man continued. "My employer is most displeased and wishes to have this attacker found and... dealt with."_

_"And this has what to do with me?" the Egyptain asked, scowling. "I'm not some hired thug. I don't do peoples' dirty work." Much, he added silently._

_"The manner in which the attacks happened is what led us to you, Mr. Ishtar. The first victim was found dead, though there are no wounds and no traces of poison or physical ailments. The second didn't stop screaming until he started bleeding from the throat. These were found where they were."_

_The man pulled two small cards from his pocket and offered them to Marik._

_"Duel Monster cards...?" the blonde man questioned. Pot of Greed and Just Desserts._

_The ex-tomb keeper had more than dabbled in the occult before and after the events involving the millennium items, but it had been a long time since he'd encountered anything like this. More than five years...And if everything had gone right, he shouldn't have encountered anything like this at all._

_"How much are you paying?"_

_Let that be a lesson_, Marik thought to himself. _Never take jobs from mafia-men._

After that he'd left for the United States, done some research – he had connections, some old, some new – and found that these two weren't isolated cases. Several other incidents had occurred over the past five years, not restricted to the U.S. In fact, the first ones had been committed in Asia.

It was strange though. The first victims of this Mystery Killer – though he didn't always kill. As often as not, the people were driven insane – had been small fry. Your average, everyday person. After a while though, the attacker had started going after bigger fish.

Marik mused over the latest killing. Bigger fish indeed, who was he going to go after next? The pope?

The blonde had begun to chuckle when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Something familiar. Wheeling around, he searched the crowd for the person he thought he'd seen.

But no... it couldn't have been Yugi Mutou.

It couldn't have...

* * *

"I need to talk to you about Yugi."

The line went silent.

"Wheeler..."

Still no answer, this always happened when someone brought up the violet-eyed duellist.

"Dammit, mutt!" Seto snarled. "This is important!"

"If you have nothing else to talk about, I'm hanging up."

"Listen you stupid-!" The tall brunette took a moment to calm down a bit. "The President of the United States was murdered."

There was a pause, then: "What does that have to do with anything?"

"I think he might have done it."

"Yugi?"

"I know what you're thinking, that there's no way that innocent, little Yugi could kill someone," Seto started. "But I met him last night, and he's changed. I don't know what happened when he disappeared, but he's not the Yugi you used to know-"

"I wasn't thinkin' that," Joey said, his voice strangely sullen. "I know he changed. But it didn't happen after he disappeared, it happened five years ago, not long before we graduated."

The businessman was silent, clutching his phone tightly. He'd never heard Wheeler sound like this.

"And I know Yugi could kill someone."

"...how?"

"Because five years ago, he almost killed me."

-


	3. Chapter Two

**The Polaroid Effect**

Disclaimer: Forgot about these things, ya? Oh well, I do not own it, and nobody gives me money for writing this stuff...

A/N: Mentions of blood and such. Do note that the President of the U.S. in this is a completely fictional character that I haven't even bothered to name. Boowah. Yugi has a potty mouth! :O

You can sort of... ignore the title. It made sense at the time, but I'm not entirely sure if it still does. shruggs It makes a vague sort of sense.

Unsure pairings. Though I do mention past YugiAnzu-ish-ness. Don't worry about it though, it doesn't stick. Names are mix and match Japanese/Western. Spoilers. I foresee spoilers. For like... the end of YGO or so and crud.

Thankies to the-person-who-left-no-name (Glad you like 'em! I do too. XD And Bakura – as in Ryou – will no doubt show up at some point, but I am not entirely sure about Bakura – as in the yami), lilmatchgirl007, Silvershadowfire (No, it was gradual, read on! And as for the rest you'll see), Jaysinya (You are correct in that you are wrong, but you still get a cookie for effort. ), SoulDreamer, LuCiFeR, Weeping Angel (Yupyup, you have to WAIT for an explanation of the Joey-thing. And Yugi KNEW Yami was gone, it just didn't really hit him what that meant for a while. Marik doesn't know that the person is Yugi, yet. CAKE! The preciousss...), Ecea, i love athrun, bast4 (You'll see on both accounts! Anything else is giving away plot. XD), DaugherofDeath, and ZidaneLover167 for your reviews. Apologies for misspelled names.

**Ooh, and because some people don't know about the end of YGO and it's kinda important to the fic... A short, spoiler-filled summary!**

They find Yami's name (being Atemu), at some point Yugi duels Bakura and he like... gets sent to the Shadow Realm or such. Later Yugi duels Yami and wins, becoming the King of Games and Yami goes off to the afterlife or summat, and all the Millenium Items fall into a pit of d00om or such. Yeah. In the manga at least.

And man, is SO seriously cramping my style... can't make emoticons or 'actions' 'cause asterixes, the funny triangle bracket, at signs... yeah. None of those show up... What the puck?

Please be reviewing! Now on to fic!

* * *

Chapter 2:

_I was still okay at first, after it finally set in that he was gone. Really I was. The date with Anzu went fine, and I laughed and was happy. But then after I had gone home and was lying in bed alone, something started to ache. Nothing physical, just something deep down inside me that I couldn't quite place._

_After that night I started noticing things. Little things that were different now that he was gone, the emptiness inside my head, the way I had no one to talk to when I was alone, no one I could just ask for advice whenever I wanted... Little things._

_But I wasn't unhappy! I wasn't. I just wasn't... _as_ happy. I could still smile and laugh and joke around with my friends. Just not as much._

_So things stayed as they were, I went on more dates with Anzu, Joey and Tristan teased me about it, Seto didn't really seem to care...Everything should have been good. Should have._

_But I still ached, and more and more often I found myself forcing a smile, or pretending to laugh. I was becoming less and less happy._

_One night, Anzu kissed me. It was my first kiss, but we kissed more afterward, and then I went home. I know I'm not an expert on kissing, but I'm pretty sure that when you kiss someone you're supposed to feel happy, or something like that._

_When I was kissing Anzu I felt dead._

* * *

"Hiya Marik!"

The blonde man ejected his mouthful of coffee in surprise at the sudden onslaught of a familiar voice. He coughed a bit and a reassuring hand patted him on the back until he stopped. Wiping his mouth, he stared at his unexpected visitor in shock.

"Sorry about that," Yugi Mutou said, looking sheepish. The dark-haired man wiped at the table top with a handful of napkins. "Didn't mean to startle you."

"Wha- Yugi?" the ex-tomb keeper had yet to snap out of his shock. As far as he knew, no one had seen this wayward duellist for five years and suddenly _poof!_ Here he was and acting all friendly.

"Long time no see, eh?" the shorter man asked.

Okay, scratch the friendly. Because now his impromptu companion was smirking in a very unfriendly and un-Yugi-like way.

"I wasn't too surprised to find Kaiba out here, with his company and all," the dark-haired man started, examining his nails idly. "But you, I didn't expect. What are you doing here, Marik?"

Everything about the little – though he wasn't as little anymore – duellist contradicted what he had come to expect from him, and was rather unnerving. The Egyptian refused to be intimidated by this uncharacteristic attitude though, he had faced worse. Had been worse.

"Business," he answered simply, adopting a bored look.

Yugi simply raised an eyebrow and stared at his blonde companion with his strangely dead-yet-lively eyes. Marik stared back, refusing to look away even as that haunting violet gaze raised goose bumps on his arms. The staring contest lasted minutes, until he finally gave in and turned his paler purple eyes away. The King of Games triumphed again.

"So," the ex-tomb keeper said, trying to sound casual. "You hear about the President."

Yugi smirked. "Bastard deserved what he got."

The darkly tanned man was glad that he hadn't taken another swig of his coffee as it would surely have joined it's predecessor upon the table top. That was _very_ un-Yugi-like behaviour.

"They all got exactly what they deserved," the shorter man continued. "No more, no less."

There was an idea dawning in Marik's head, a very disturbing, impossible idea. The incidents he was researching had started five years ago... Yugi had disappeared five years ago... The latest incidents were in the US... Here was Yugi in the US... The attacks seemed oh-so-familiar... Yugi was one of the few who could use the shadow games...

"That's impossible!" the Egyptian shouted suddenly. "Not with the Items gone!"

His only answer was a mysterious smirk.

The dark-haired leaned over the table so that their noses almost touched. "I'm a forgiving person, so I can ignore the events of the past as long as they aren't repeated and nobody forces me to remember them. So a word of advice, Marik, stay the hell out of my way."

It wasn't until the violet-eyed duellist had left that he realized he was trembling. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, the ex-tomb keeper finished off his coffee.

Things had just gotten a whole lot more interesting.

* * *

Seto glanced at his watch, then back up at the landing strip impatiently. He had ordered one of his private jets to fly Wheeler over to the U.S., and it should have been arriving any second now. He wasn't entirely sure how the arrangement had come about, something about Joey not wanting to talk about what had happened over the phone and the possibility that the presidential assassination wasn't the only incident with Yugi...

He almost couldn't believe that Yugi would have tried to kill Wheeler, his best friend, but something in the mutt's voice convinced him that it was the truth. Knowing that, how could he doubt that he old rival would have the guts to kill a complete stranger?

What was really eating at him was how nobody had noticed the boy changing from the child-like duellist into what he was now, what he had become five years ago. No one could blame him for not noticing, of course, he wasn't that close to Yugi, but the kid's best friends? Shouldn't _they_ have observed something that would make them suspicious, make them try and figure out what was wrong?

Seto shook his head. There were a lot of things that didn't make sense right now. Including why and _how_ Yugi had killed the President.

"Well, Wheeler," he said out loud. "When you get here, you have some explaining to do."

Joey glanced out the window of the small commercial jet, watching as the ground steadily grew closer. With a slight jar, the aircraft touched down, taxiing to a halt moments later.

He really didn't want to be here. He didn't want to tell Kaiba what had happened, didn't want to talk about Yugi, didn't want to have anything to _do_ with Yugi... But if his ex-friend was killing people, it was up to him to help stop the guy.

Turning to the man sitting next to him, he asked, "You ready?"

His companion smiled and nodded and they both got up and headed to the front of the plane.

Stepping down the set of stairs placed at the door, Joey was immediately accosted by an impatient Seto Kaiba.

"What, no hello?" he asked.

A hard glare was his answer. "You better start explaining what's going on here, Wheeler."

"Me? You're the one who knows about this whole President business!"

A small cough interrupted the two men before they could start an argument.

Kaiba started, glancing over Joey's shoulder. "Who?"

"Oh yeah," Joey said. "Forgot to mention, I brought along some reinforcements."

"Reinforcements...?"

"When Yugi tried to kill me five years back, it wasn't with a gun or anythin'. Whatever it was... it reminded me of the Shadow Realm. So I brought someone who knows more about it than either of us."

And standing at the base of the set of steps, pale hair pulled back in a long braid, was none other than Ryou Bakura.

* * *

He watched them from the shadows, unheard, unseen, wrapped in a cloak of darkness. They hadn't found it yet, but they would soon and then they would know. Then they would understand why he had to die.

They had followed the stains, the bloody hand and footprints that the children had left after exacting their vengeance. They had traced them back to the painting and behind the painting the safe. And now they would open the safe and understand.

He slipped behind them, invisible, intangible, and watched as they hacked into the large metal box. Watched as they pulled open the door, and recoiled from the smell. He himself knew that smell all too well, had experienced it too many times in his travels. It still made his nose wrinkle in disgust.

"Oh my god..." Someone whispered.

He understood their shock, for even though they had seen many horrible things in their career, few had seen things such as this.

There were four of them in the safe, all in various stages of decay. But that was just in the safe. There were at least three others that he knew of that had been disposed of at other locations... Four children that is. The bodies of children.

All of them were bruised, cut, mutilated. Tracks of dark, dried blood streaked their naked forms, especially around _there,_ leaving the poor things utterly humiliated, even in death. But they had gotten their revenge, he had given it to them and now they could go and rest in some sort of peace.

A flashlight was shone into the dark space, glinting off the dull open eyes of the most recent victim.

"Is that...?" one of them said, voice trembling.

"It's the President's daughter..."

As he gazed upon the defiled, dead children, a prickling began in his eyes and so he left. It hurt him to see them like that, desecrated, lifeless. That man... he had taken from them everything, their pride, their lives, their future, he had taken it all and left a stain on their souls that would never, ever go away.

He left and as he went he let tears run down his face. He cried fairly often actually, but never out of remorse for what he had done. Why would he feel remorse for ridding the world of people like that man? People who raped the innocent and weak, who killed for money, or pleasure, or no reason at all. Why would he care about _them_? No, he cried for those who died or were hurt because he'd never be able to save them from someone who hadn't committed a crime yet. Yugi Mutou cried for the dead children locked away in a safe, and for all the victims of the dark side of humanity.

* * *


	4. Chapter Three

**The Polaroid Effect**

Disclaimer: Forgot about these things, ya? Oh well, I do not own it, and nobody gives me money for writing this stuff...

A/N: Mentions of blood and such. Do note that the President of the U.S. in this is a completely fictional character that I haven't even bothered to name. Boowah. Some swearing.

You can sort of... ignore the title. It made sense at the time, but I'm not entirely sure if it still does. shruggs It makes a vague sort of sense.

Unsure pairings. Though I do mention past YugiAnzu-ish-ness gasp Don't worry about it though, it doesn't stick. Names are mix and match Japanese/Western. Spoilers. noddnodd I foresee spoilers. For like... the end of YGO or so and crud.

Thankies to bast4 (He doesn't know what they do before they do it... he just wishes he could, I think part of it is research, part of it stumbling onto things, part of it probably has a more supernatural base, the other parts you'll see for yourself eventually, and no, I don't think Yugi will go after the Pope), Silvershadowfire (Heh, Yugi doesn't really care if the world understands what he does, he's already gotten justice. As for the rest... wait and see!), MysticJunebugs, lilmatchgirl007, SoulDreamer, Kyoko Komiashi, i love athrun, Endermon, Weeping Angel (Yes, the President of this 'Verse was a rapist and murderer of children, including his own daughter. Which is why he received excruciating death. And sure, add me if ya want!), Alaskantiger, AzzieAz, tsuriai no hikari to yami, kikoken, Nina wyndia, deranged black kitten of doom (You have the best screen-name EVAR XD) and anyone I missed. Apologies for misspelled names.

Please be reviewing!

...it makes me sad that this story has such short chapters.

Chapter 3:

_After those first kisses, Anzu and mine's relationship went downhill. The ache was still growing and even though we went on just as many dates and spent just as much time together, it was different. A lot of the time I don't think I was really _there_. I'd smile and talk and laugh like I usually would, but at night when I'd go home I wouldn't remember a single thing that I'd done. And it'd show._

_I'd forget something that she'd mentioned, or a meeting that we'd set up and she'd get annoyed. Never angry, just irked at me and I'd feel guilty. But no matter how guilty I was it wouldn't change anything because the ache inside me kept growing and it was all I could concentrate on. The ache and how much I missed Yami, because in reality, that's what the ache was._

_I wasn't happy anymore, but I don't think any of my friends noticed. I guess I'm a really good actor or something, because the most I ever got were a few strange looks from Joey and Tristan now and then._

_At least until Anzu finally got fed up with my absentmindedness. There was a lot of yelling then... All of it hers. I just stood silently and let her shout at me because it was my fault she was angry anyway. And after she had gotten it all out and calmed down, she gave me a choice._

_"If you don't put some effort into this relationship, then we're over!"_

_I said 'okay' and left her there. We didn't talk much after that._

* * *

Seto Kaiba strummed his fingers against the table top, his sharp gaze resting on the two people sitting across from him.

"Alright, why exactly is he here?" the tall brunette spoke, nodding his head at Ryou Bakura. "The Millenium Items are gone, so it's not like he has any more 'power' than us."

"Actually," the pale-haired man said, "My time spent in such close vicinity to a Millenium Item for so long has left me... well, more sensitive than most."

"Like a psychic, or an empath," Joey clarified.

"...Right." Seto rubbed his brow. "And again 'why exactly is he here'?"

"A few years after the incidents with the Millenium Items," Ryou started, "I began to regain memories of when I was controlled by the spirit of the Ring. Basically, I was the only person around with any real knowledge of the Shadow Realm and how it works. Also, I know what Yugi's mind feels like, if I was ever near him, I'd know it."

"So what you're saying is that you're our consultant and locator?"

"Basically, yes."

"Fine." Cold, blue eyes turned to Joey. "Now what I'd really like to know is what the hell we're up against. What happened to Yugi?"

"Why do you think _I _would know?" the blonde man said, looking annoyed.

"All I know is that you were his best friend and the last person to see him until now."

"I..." the tall blonde became suddenly reserved. "I found him in his room, packing some things into a backpack. Asked him what he was doing and he told me that he was leaving and I asked him why. He started babbling, can't remember what it was, but it didn't make much sense. I think... I think he might've killed someone. I tried to talk him out of goin', tried to get him to tell me what wrong but he wouldn't listen! He turned to leave and I said something, I can't remember... and then...then..."

He took a shuddering breath. "I don't know what happened. All I know is that it was suddenly dark and cold and I _hurt._ And then it stopped, and he was standing over me, talking. He told me that I should've been dead, but that he wasn't a murderer and I hadn't done anything wrong... I passed out then, and when I woke up he was gone."

Ryou stared at him sadly, Kaiba's expression unreadable.

"I never told anyone what happened until now..." Joey said softly. "I didn't want to talk to anyone about him because I couldn't believe that he'd betray me like that... that he'd try to kill me..."

* * *

He stared up at the hotel, following it as it went up and up and up... Purple eyes glanced down at the piece of paper clutched in one hand, making sure the address was correct.

"Well, it isn't as if the bastard couldn't afford it..." he muttered to himself.

Entering the building he made his way up to the front desk and flashed the woman there a charming smile. A light blush tinged her cheeks. Perfect, she'd be putty in his hands.

"Hey there, I'm looking for one Seto Kaiba."

* * *

"Why didn't you notice?" the tall brunette asked. "You say you thought he might've killed someone, even before he left. Don't you think one of you should have _noticed_ your friend turning into a _serial killer?! _Don't you think one of you should've _done_ something?!"

"What do you think there was _to _notice?!" Joey shouted, slamming his hands on the table. "What, you think we saw him descending into darkness or something and turned our heads the other fucking way?! We didn't _know_!"

Ryou cringed, drawing back from the shouting duo.

"Well, you should have!"

"I KNOW!" the blonde snarled, then quieted. "I know... We should have known something was wrong. There were signs, small ones... He smiled less, and sometimes he would sort of zone out or something, just sorta stare into space with this strange look on his face... But I thought it was just, y'know, him missin' Yami and all..."

"You can't blame Joey, Seto," Ryou said softly. "Yugi was always the type that looked out for his friends and wanted them happy. If there was something wrong, I doubt he would've wanted them to know, to worry."

The blue-eyed man snorted, but said nothing in turn.

After a moment of silence, Joey spoke up: "So, Bakura, do you think you could, ah, find Yugi? Sense him and all?"

The pale-haired man shook his head, braid bobbing behind him. "I'm not that strong. I can only sense people if they're in a range of a few metres." He blinked, then turned to stare at the entrance. "Like the distance from here to the hall, for instance. Somebody's here."

Standing quickly, Seto moved quietly to the door, soon shadowed by Joey. Placing an eye to the peephole, he looked out... and was promptly given the finger. Growling, he threw open the door.

Standing in the hallway, arms crossed and smirking, was none other than Marik Ishtar.

Grinning devilishly, the Egyptian greeting the trio. "Hey bitches."

"What the hell-?" the tall brunette started before being pushed to one side as the ex-tomb keeper forced his way in.

Marik glanced around the room before holding up a Duel Monsters card. "Five years ago, Japan, June 29th, Sorota Takahasi was found in his apartment gibbering madly to himself, never recovered."

The tanned man sat down on the table edge and snapped his fingers, the card in his hand changing from Sagi the Dark Clown to Mind Control. "Three years ago, England, Steve Smith was found in his bed almost completely brain dead, following any order given to him."

One dark hand was waved over the other, the card disappearing. "Oh by the way, Ryou, love the hair. Very nice."

The white-haired man smiled, "Nice goatee, Marik."

The Egyptian reached behind the brown-eyed man's ear and pulled out a pair of cards, Pot of Greed and Just Desserts. "Four months ago, New York, two men with undisclosed names, one found dead the other insane."

Joey stared confused at the sudden visitor. "What are you talking about?"

The two cards were tucked away and a photograph was produced from seemingly thin air and tossed expertly at Joey. It depicted a stained Sinister Serpent. "Two days ago, the President of the United States was murdered. That card, as with all the other incidents and their according cards, was found at the scene of the crime. A small sample of the many occurrences stretching from Japan to the US that occurred over the past five years."

Marik studied the rather stunned looks of the three other men. "Oh, didn't you know that little Yugi was a serial killer? Now Ryou, about that limited empathetic ability or whatever of yours..."

The pale-haired man started, "How did you...?"

The blonde Egyptian waved a hand, "Compulsive eavesdropping. But anyway, I think I have just the thing to help you. So, what do you guys say?" He extended a darkly tanned hand. "Partners?"

A look of distrust crossed over Seto's face, but after a moment he reached out and grasped the hand with his own. "Deal."

The devilish grin returned to Marik's face, teeth flashing. "Excellent."

* * *


	5. Chapter Four

**The Polaroid Effect**

Disclaimer: Forgot about these things, ya? Oh well, I do not own it, and nobody gives me money for writing this stuff...

A/N: Mentions of blood and such. Do note that the President of the U.S. in this is a completely fictional character that I haven't even bothered to name. Boowah. Some swearing.

You can sort of... ignore the title. It made sense at the time, but I'm not entirely sure if it still does. It makes a vague sort of sense.

Unsure pairings. Though I do mention past YugiAnzu-ish-ness. Don't worry about it though, it doesn't stick. Names are mix and match Japanese/Western. Spoilers. I foresee spoilers. For like... the end of YGO or so and crud.

Thankies to i love athrun, bast4 (All I'll say to most of that is that Yami is currently quite dead or whatever. But for the last thing, I guess I might have been a bit vague or confusing... Yugi isn't after Kaiba. The person looking for him at the hotel desk was Marik), Kekewey (I don't know when I'm gonna update AC. My muse for it is taking a vacation or something. And I don't think Kaiba changed all that much), kikoken (Marik is devilish. Or at least he'd like to think so), Padawan-Travina (I guess that's two people I confused. Sorry! But it was Marik looking for Seto), shadow/phantomness, Aldrea, Shinigami (Is the hikari, they got rid of that pesky alternate personality in Battle City. Fanart eh? Hmm... Don't worry about spoilers, I'm well aware of Yami's fiery exploits XD And I wouldn't say it's so much without dark there is no light as so much without one there is no contrast for the other...), Amber Eyes23, Alaskantiger, SoulDreamer, LeDiz (Ee! YOU are reviewing my fic! You are such an awesome author. W00t. And I'm not sure if that's ever happened to me...Hmm...), AzzieAz, Silvershadowfire, lilmatchgirl007, Weeping Angel (Well, the cards Yugi left weren't so much used ON the people as being kinds... representative of who they were, or why he did what he did to them. The two mafia-related cards are the originals, the others may be, gained through Marik's connections), oracale, HANDHELD Uber Rei Model 05 (I honestly couldn't tell you what relationship they might have. It is beyond my knowledge currently. Sad when I'm the one writing the damn thing) and anyone I missed. Apologies for misspelled names.

Please be reviewing! Now on to fic!

Chapter 4:

_I sometimes wonder if maybe I am related to a phoenix. Because a week after I broke up with Anzu, I died._

_I had been out with Tristan and Joey and we'd stayed out late, but when it came time to go home I didn't want to spend any more time with them. They were still my friends, and they were fun to be with, but I still wasn't happy. And pretending to be happy took a lot of effort, and even though I didn't _want_ them to know I was unhappy, it still hurt that they didn't notice._

_So I walked home alone, which I admit was very stupid of me. I was walking past an alley when I was grabbed from behind, pulled into the darkness away from the streetlights._

_He held a knife to my throat, demanded that I give him all my money. I fumbled for my wallet, pulled out 1000 yen. It was all I had! But he didn't believe me, he'd recognized my face from TV, thought that a famous duellist like myself would have more money, but I didn't and I couldn't give him what he wanted._

_So he beat me, and let me tell you, getting beaten up in high school has nothing on getting beaten by a criminal. Broke two of my ribs, my right arm, smashed my head against a wall... surprisingly I only blacked out for a few minutes. In that time he had taken my wallet and anything he deemed valuable – my bracelets and boots – and left._

_Lying broken on the ground, watching the blood pool around my head I began to cry. _He_ should have been there to save me, Yami... he had saved me so many times, my friends... but now, now he was gone. He had left me alone and vulnerable to the horrors of the world._

_Eventually someone found me and took me to a hospital, but it was too late by then. Yugi Mutou had died from a reason altogether different than his physical ailments, swallowed by the ache in his soul. And in the shadows, he was reborn. From the ashes of this broken boy, from his blood and tears came _me. _And I would never be hurt again._

* * *

"So," spoke Seto Kaiba, "You're telling me that over the past five years, Yugi Mutou has killed, disabled and driven insane 142 people all across the globe?"

"Correct!" Marik confirmed, leafing through a small notepad. 'Little Book of Big Evil' was scrawled across the front of it in marker.

Joey scowled. "I thought he'd killed more people than just the President... but 142? That's just crazy."

"It does seem very strange," Ryou said. "I mean, what would drive Yugi of all people to kill so many? If it had just been the President of the United States, perhaps it could have been passed off as assassination with base in politics, a hired killing maybe, but all those people? It just doesn't make sense... I think we're missing something."

Joey snorted. "He's crazy, is what. The guy doesn't need a motive."

The snowy-haired man hm'd, then answered with an unconvinced sounding "Perhaps."

"Well, motives and reasoning aside," Marik butted in. "First order of business should be to find out if the little bugger is still even in the city. What do you say, Ryou, up to a little soul searching?"

"That was a horrible pun," the braided man said with a smile. "And I search for minds, not souls. What is this 'thing' you had in mind to help boost my abilities?"

The Egyptian flashed a page of his battered notebook, the sheet scrawled with hastily drawn diagrams and messy text. "Temporary enhancement spell! Depending on how you do it, it'll enhance everything from mind powers to-" A wink. "-Pleasure."

Seto gave a disgusted snort. "Just get on with it. Let's see if this 'spell' of yours will work."

"Ch. No sense of humour," the tanned man muttered. "Anyway, Ryou. Strip."

Red coloured the pale-haired man's cheeks. "What?"

"Your shirt, strip it off. Part of the spell needs to be drawn on flesh."

"O-oh," Ryou said, and shyly unbuttoned his shirt.

"Ooh, have you been working out?" Marik asked, smirking, as he pinched the pale man's bicep.

The braided-man slapped at his hands. "Stop teasing!"

"Fine, fine." With that, Marik began tracing out a circle on his companion's back, glancing back at his notebook now and then as he began to fill it in with symbols.

"...is that eyeliner?" Joey asked, blinking slowly at the tanned man's choice of drawing utensil.

"So what if it is?" the Egyptian said defensively. "It's a perfectly useful multipurpose tool!"

Seto rolled his eyes and muttered to himself. "I'm surrounded by idiots..."

Marik winked. "But you know you love us."

Throwing up his hands in exasperation, the tall brunette said something about a headache and stalked off to the bedroom.

The ex-Tomb Keeper looked strangely victorious.

After a few minutes wait, Joey got bored and wandered over to the fridge to see if it might hold food.

"Are you almost done yet?" Ryou questioned.

"Almost!" the longhaired blonde answered, finishing up the sketch. "Now, to just activate it..."

Standing back, the Egyptian spoke a strange word that thrummed in Ryou's ears and raised gooseflesh on his arms. Warmth suddenly blossomed between his shoulder blades and traced down his back so that he could almost visualize the patterns drawn there.

And then suddenly his mind was _open _and he could _feel_. He could sense the carefully constructed blocks in Marik's mind, shielding all but the most frivolous thoughts. Sense Joey's boredom and hunger, and that deeper sadness and anger, even deeper a buried longing for... And then he was in Seto's mind, and he felt the man's frustration, confusion and a tinge of self-disgust at his helplessness in this situation.

Then out, out of the room and into the surrounding building and the street below and all the many, many people with out even trying. It was amazing, breathtaking... It wasn't what he wanted to do. Not to mention that he was invading peoples' privacy without permission.

Catching hold of his mind's reach, Ryou drew it back in to himself, keeping his empathy confined to his own being.

"It work?" Marik asked.

"Oh yes," the white-haired man said breathlessly. "Definitely."

Then closing his eyes, he reached out again, this time brushing minds only enough to determine whether or not they were Yugi. Using this pattern he spread his mind like a blanket across the city, searching.

* * *

He was resting, floating peacefully in the vast confines of his soul room, when he felt the light brush to his mind. It trickled across his senses, rousing his attention, before coming back to prod more thoroughly.

Someone was reaching out to his mind with their own, and without his permission. How very rude.

"Well, if they so want to meet me," Yugi spoke to the darkness of his soul room. "Then let's invite them in and give them a proper greeting."

He opened his mind like a black hole and drew the questing presence in.

* * *

Ryou wasn't sure what had happened. One moment he had touched Yugi's mind and was trying to figure out where it was in the physical world, and the next he was here. Wherever here was.

He found himself floating in a seemingly endless darkness, empty but for large blocks of what appeared to be gold. One such block floated by him, and he had to duck away to avoid being struck by it. The thing was the size of a small house.

The white-haired man drifted slowly through the strange place, voicing the question burning in his mind, "Where the hell am I?"

"Welcome," a voice spoke from behind him, and he span around to come face to face with none other than Yugi Mutou.

He almost couldn't distinguish the other man from the darkness surrounding them, his hair and clothes fading into the shadows. Only the tanned flesh of his face, hands and feet were discernable against the background.

The small man tilted his head and smiled. "Welcome to my soul room, Ryou Bakura. What a surprise."

"Wha-? Your soul room?" The pale-haired man glanced around in shock. He had never imagined a soul room could look like this... this bizarre _emptiness_.

Another thought occurred to him. He had known the duellist had shown supernatural abilities... but to do this, to pull another person into his mind... Ryou realized that he was far out of his league and completely vulnerable.

"Quite," Yugi replied. "You know, I don't know what I expected when I felt some _rude_ person poking about my mind, but it certainly wasn't _you_. Strange really, especially since I met with both Seto and Marik just days ago."

The dark man turned from his companion, and Ryou almost lost sight of him. When he spoke again, something in his voice made him shiver.

"I was willing to pass it off as mostly chance when it was just the two of them... but now you? No, that's just a bit too coincidental for my tastes." Yugi turned again, now scowling. "I suppose Joey is with you as well?"

Feeling it would be a bad idea to lie, the pale-haired man nodded numbly, braid waving in the air behind him.

His companion's scowl deepened. "I told Marik to stay out of my business, and that goes for all of you. Go home, Bakura, go home and leave me alone and take the others with you. I won't give second chances."

There was a cold fire blazing in those violet eyes that made Ryou shiver, and suddenly Yugi's gaze softened.

"Just go home," he said again, this time more pleading than demanding. "You were my friend, Bakura. I don't want to have to hurt you."

The white-haired man furrowed his brow in confusion. "I don't understand you, Yugi. I know better than most the mind of a murderer, and you don't strike me as one."

"I'm no murderer, I'm just doing what's right."

"But-"

"I think it's time you went back. Just remember, next time you won't be so lucky."

Ryou felt a pulling sensation and the dark realm of Yugi's soul room started to blur.

"Wait! I just want to ask you one question!"

The world came back into focus and the braided man blurted, "How?"

"How can I use the shadows?"

Ryou nodded, and the small man went silent, as though determining how to answer the question.

"Doors..." he started tentatively. "When doors are opened in a person's mind, they never disappear, though what lay behind them may disappear."

"I'm not sure I understand..."

Yugi shook his head. "I'll show you."

And then they weren't in the dark-haired man's soul room, but a corridor that stretched infinitely in either direction. They stood by two doors, one closed tight, the other open to a room that Ryou knew only too well.

He gasped. "This is my mind!"

"Of course it is," Yugi stated. "I wasn't about to parade us around mine."

The pale-haired man shivered at the thought of his mind, his _soul_ being trespassed upon so easily by another.

His companion pointed at the shut door. "Do you know what that is?"

"It... it's where the spirit of the Ring's soul room used to be."

Yugi nodded. "But now he's gone, and the soul room with it, leaving a void. Only... the void where doors like this lead, aren't so empty as one would have thought."

"...it leads to the shadow realm, doesn't it?"

The shorter man looked a bit startled. "Intuitive."

"I still don't see how you got shadow powers. I mean, I've been in the shadow realm before, and just opening Yami's door and going in wouldn't have-"

He had to stop as a chilling wave of rage washed over him, and he turned to look at Yugi. The man's face was contorted in a look of absolute fury, glaring wrathfully at the white-haired man.

"You have _no_ right..." the smaller man snarled.

"Y-yugi?" Ryou stuttered, frightened. He didn't understand what had happened, the duellist had been fine just moments ago...

"NONE OF YOU! None of you have the right to talk about _him!"_

And suddenly, Ryou found himself falling backwards, and the door was suddenly open... He grasped the doorframe with one hand as he fell into darkness and shadows. He watched fearfully as Yugi stared down at him.

"Please," he whimpered. "Don't..."

The man just glared at him, and then was gone.

He felt something tug at his clothes and he sobbed. Swinging his other arm up, he began to painstakingly pull himself from the grip of the shadow realm. The darkness hissed around him, reluctant to let go of its newest catch, but as long as he still kept a link to his mind, it couldn't have him.

With one final heave, he pushed himself onto the floor of the corridor in his mind, then kicked the heavy door shut. For a few moments he rested, panting and shivering, before returning to the physical world. He didn't notice the scrap of shadow that dropped off his clothes and scurried away into his soul room.

* * *


	6. Chapter Five

**The Polaroid Effect**

Disclaimer: Forgot about these things, ya? Oh well, I do not own it, and nobody gives me money for writing this stuff…

A/N: Mentions of blood and such. Do note that the President of the U.S. in this is a completely fictional character that I haven't even bothered to name. Boowah. Some swearing.

You can sort of… ignore the title. It made sense at the time, but I'm not entirely sure if it still does. It makes a vague sort of sense.

Unsure pairings, but: **Thar be Marik/Ryou in this chapter!** Names are mix and match Japanese/Western. Spoilers. I foresee spoilers. For like… the end of YGO or so and crud.

Thankies to Silvershadowfire (Heh, I don't think Ryou could ever have the shadow powers now… you'll see why), LeDiz (Booyah! I updateth), bast4, Kekewey, Shinigami (Yeah, and that unclearness makes my life difficult. Bah!), SoulDreamer, AzzieAz (Heh, any other title I though up would pro'ly be horribly corny. Like 'Life in Negative' or something.), LilAznSp0nge, lilmatchgirl007 (Oh, he's out of the Shadow Realm already. Wasn't actually completely in it… good ol' doorframes! Er…), Abi2, Hikari Tsuki Chi (Nah, I think I'll stick with this one for now. I'm kinda' used to it.), Kyoko Komiashi, Alaskantiger, LBL, female half – breed, citrus luver, Silver Goddess1, Bakajin, avery bigfan, Windswift, Sabishi Tomo and anyone I missed. Apologies for misspelled names.

Please be reviewing! Now on to fic!

Sorry for the long wait people, but zOMG! Longest chapter yet! XD

* * *

Chapter 5:

_Even after I was reborn, my life was filled with pain for a time. Pain from my head, my arm, my ribs… and from that cursed hole in my soul that refused to go away. But it didn't hurt so much anymore and I ignored it, and for the first time in a while I didn't have to pretend to be happy. I was a new person and would no longer spend time pining over the dead._

_My time in the hospital was boring, the dull monotony of the days broken only by visits from my friends and family, wishing me well. But other than that, there was little to do. I soon bored of the small games and puzzles brought to me, and there was little entertaining material on the television. So instead I went soul searching, began to rethink my life and redesign myself._

_I was in my soul room one day, packing up the toys that littered its floor when I was struck with a sudden bout of nostalgia. I wondered what had happened to _his_ soul room after he had gone, and so I ran out into the corridor that had existed between our souls and there was his door, the same as it had always been. And for a second it was as though I was that old Yugi, the weak Yugi, and I was filled with a hope, an overwhelming conviction that he hadn't left, that it had all been a bad dream, that he was still here!_

_I flung open the door, expecting to see the strange maze of stairs and doors and stone, expecting to see him waiting with open arms…But all I found was darkness._

_Well, not just darkness. More like _the_ darkness, the shadows, the realm of monsters and lost souls that I'd come to know so well._

_He was gone. This was the last and final proof of it and without thinking about it I began to lean forward, falling into the darkness._

_And as I was swallowed up by the shadows, it recognized me, just as I had recognized it. I was the one who had been with the Pharaoh and it was curious as to why I was here and where Atemu had gone, for it had not felt him for so long…_

_I opened my mind and let the darkness read from it what it would and as it did I realized that it was lonely. That though full of creatures, it missed contact with a living being, to be able to experience the other world through them, missed the games that people used it for._

_Strange, how I could empathize with something that was both conscious and yet not, neither truly living or truly dead, something so completely inhuman. But I did._

_And so I embraced the darkness, offered my companionship, and it embraced me in turn. In trade for sharing my body, and life, and company, I would have powers that those who carried items could only dream of, the full extent of the dark realm's abilities._

_I was happy as I was returned to myself and when I woke I found that I no longer ached, for the power had healed my bones, and the shadows had filled the emptiness in my soul._

_

* * *

_  
Ryou awoke to find strong hands tilting back his head, and warm lips pressed to his own. Panicking, he clenched his fist and punched the offending person in the side of the head.

"Ow! Fucking-!" the person snarled, falling back.

The white-haired man blinked, sitting up from his place on the floor. "Marik…?"

"Yes, you stupid bastard!" The blonde Egyptian snarled, holding his head.

"…what the hell were you doing, kissing me!"

"I wasn't _kissing_ you, asshole! You stopped breathing for awhile."

"I… stopped…" Ryou sat for a moment, staring into nothingness. He shuddered. "I think… I think that we should leave Yugi alone."

"No way!" Joey broke in, snarling. "I won't let him go around killing more people!"

Seto, who had come back sometime during Bakura's trip to the world of the not-breathing, glared at the blond man. "What happened?"

"I-I found him," the white-haired man began. "Only, I guess he felt me because he pulled me into his mind, I'm not sure how, I think he made a pact with the Shadow Realm through Yami's empty door, but- Oh kami! I almost fell into there! The Shadow Realm… he pushed me… and-"

"Whoa, slow down!" Marik said. "What's this about empty doors and Shadow Realms?"

Ryou took a deep breath. "I asked him how he could still do it – use the shadows you know? – Since the rest of us can't, and he took me into my own mind… into the corridor that existed between my soul room and _his_. And _his_ door was still there, the tomb robber's. But behind it there was no soul room, it was just that darkness, that horrible, malevolent darkness…"

He took a deep breath to calm himself. "I'm thinking that there was one like it in Yugi's mind, from where Yami- Atemu used to be, and I think he used that link to make a deal with it, and he got its powers without the use of an Item."

"And after he told you this, he pushed you into the Shadow Realm?" the Egyptian question.

"That _bastard-_" Joey started.

"No! No… it wasn't like that, it was something I said. I made him angry! He's not insane!" The braided man looked pensive for a moment. "Well, yes, I suppose he's a bit crazy, but not like that. He said something… that he wasn't a murderer. That he was doing what was right…"

"Well, when he's a fucking _psycho_, he probably makes up his own version of what's 'right'!" the tall blonde snarled.

"It's not _like_ that, I'm sure of it!"

"He tried to send you to the _Shadow Realm_, Bakura! Why are you defending him? Did he threaten you, is that it?"

"Why are you turning on him like that? I know he hurt you, but why can't you accept that maybe-!"

"Ryou," Marik cut in. "I know you want to help him, want to think that there's still some good in him, but let's face it, some people just… snap. I know. And Yugi's been through a lot."

The white-haired man gaped at him companion, feeling strangely betrayed.

"I've been through the files on all the people he killed," the Egyptian continued, holding Ryou's gaze steadily. "Hell, I've run my _own_ background checks on them. There's nothing there that would give me a reason to believe these people deserved killing."

For a moment the braided man couldn't believe it, and so he went against his better judgments and used his temporarily enhanced abilities to look at Marik's mind. He brushed across the blonde's wards, looking for something, anything, just a _hint_ that he was lying… but all he could find above that shield was a warm projection of honesty, and so he let it go.

"Fine," he said, defeated. "Go on, hunt down Yugi, capture him, kill him, bring him to justice, whatever. But I'll have no part in it."

"What? Bakura!" Joey shouted.

"Leave it, Wheeler," the tanned blond said, raising a hand. "He can go if he wants, any sensible person would be scared right now."

Seto Kaiba cleared his throat. "I'll get you traffic back to Japan tomorrow, but for now I'll book you guys a room in this hotel, it's too late to be going anywhere."

"Thank you…" the braided man said quietly, then sat down on the couch to wait.

* * *

Ryou was ignoring him.

Marik scowled at the ground, Seto had rented them suites – a one-bedroom for Wheeler, and a two-bedroom for Bakura and himself – and he'd been hoping for some time alone to convince Ryou to stay… But now the white-haired man was _ignoring _him. He was not a man who liked to be ignored.

So, sure, he'd gone along with Joey, and not Ryou. And sure, he had lied about what he had found about Yugi's victims. He was quite sure that a lot of them did, indeed, deserve to die, but his companion didn't know that, and it's only a bad thing if you get caught. Really.

The Egyptian blew at his bangs. Okay, so maybe he felt a little guilty for lying to the guy, he's a nice person. A bit too nice for the blonde's tastes, but nice. He had a job to do though, and for that job he needed to find Yugi, and to find Yugi, he needed Ryou. Therefore, no matter what it took, he would convince the other man to stay. Besides, it wasn't like he'd let anything happen to any of them.

Time to put his plan into action.

Walking over to the room that the white-haired man had sequestered himself in, Marik knocked lightly. "Yo, can I come in?"

"Go away, Marik," came the muffled response.

The dark-skinned man tried the doorknob, finding it unlocked. "You know, if you really wanted me out, you should take better precautions."

There was a snort from the bed. "As if a locked door would keep you out…"

"True, true," the Egyptian said, nodding thoughtfully. Then he sighed, as though regretfully, and moved to sit on the bed. "Ryou…"

"Forget it. I'm going."

"Aw, come on! We need you here, and you know it."

Silence.

The blond leaned forward, breath ghosting over his companion's neck. The braided man shivered. "_I_ need you."

Sitting up suddenly, Bakura glared at him, brown eyes fierce. "_Stop__it_, Marik."

A darkly tanned hand reached up to brush at his bangs, and when he moved to swat it away, the other hand caught his wrist.

"Ryou, look at me," the Egyptian whispered, a strange hint of command in his voice. He couldn't help but obey, staring into hypnotic lavender eyes. The fingers around his wrist began to dance, rubbing lightly at his skin.

"I- I-…" He couldn't look away, couldn't speak, couldn't…

The hand was moving down, tracing patterns on his skin, leaving burning trails. Down to his elbow, then up, up to his shoulders, other hand joining it. He felt sort of dizzy, strangely warm, and his eyelids drooped. "M-Marik…?"

"Ssh… It's okay, Ryou," the blond said, still staring. "Trust me, Ryou, I'd never let anyone hurt you."

_He's doing something to you_, a voice whispered in the back of his head, _don't listen to him._

But it was getting so hot, and so hard to think… he couldn't concentrate on it. And… and why shouldn't he trust Marik?

_Don't trust him. Break away. Now._

But he couldn't and he was so _hot_… Sweat dripped down his temple and warm lips clashed with his own, and the hands kept dancing across his skin, under his shirt, everywhere… He was losing it.

_Stop him._

"Trust me…"

"Yes…" And he was lost.

_Fool._

_

* * *

_  
Marik sat up with a sigh, running a hand through his sweaty hair. Glancing back at Ryou's naked form, he felt a twinge of emotion. Regret? Maybe.

Standing, the blond Egyptian searched for his pants and pulled them on. Turning back to his slumbering companion, he pulled the white sheets over his bare flesh, spell marks fading from the expanse of pale skin. Leaning down, he places a kiss upon the other man's forehead.

"Sorry Ryou, but I can't have you leaving just yet," he mumbled to the darkness. "I have a job to do, and I need your help to do it."

As he walked from the room, Marik assured himself that there was nothing to feel guilty over. He was just getting his job done. Besides, there was one thing he wasn't lying about: He wasn't going to let anyone hurt his – dare he say it? – friend.

* * *

Ryou was asleep, in both the real world and his mind. He was sprawled across the bed in his soul room, resting lightly. A slight frown crossed his visage as a small shadow broke away from the darkness beneath the bed and began to climb the drooping sheets. His hand twitched and the shadow paused, waiting. When he moved no more, his face smoothing once again, the shard of darkness moved on.

Moving soundlessly, the shadow crept up the bed, settling over Ryou's mouth and nose. For a moment nothing happened… then the pale-haired man jerked. Tried to suck in breath, opened his mouth in a silent scream, then clawed at the darkness upon his face. The shadow tightened its grip on the man's head.

Flailing and tearing wildly at the shadow, the young man was slowly suffocating, weakening… But he couldn't die yet! He was too young, he didn't want to go, he _wouldn't_ die. And with a sheer blast of willpower, the slice of darkness was sent careening into the wall.

Though gasping for breath, Ryou acted quickly, vaulting from his bed and bringing a heavy foot down upon the squirming darkness. After his breathing calmed, the man reached down, and dangled the shadow a safe distance from his face.

"What the hell…?" He muttered. "What is this?"

As if in answer, the shadow began to twist and grow, forcing the white-haired man to let go. It thinned and took shape, forming into roughly the shape of a man, though parts of him – arms, legs, torso – flickered and shifted, fading in and out of existence.

Ryou stepped back with a gasp. It was _himself_ and yet… not.

The figure that stood before him, though faded and incomplete, looked remarkably similar to him. He seemed taller though, maybe darker, his hair shorter and spikier, and on his cheek there was an impression of scars that flickered in and out, as though unsure they should exist.

And suddenly, with a shocking certainty, Ryou knew who this spectre was. The late spirit of the Millennium Ring. The young man didn't know how the ancient soul had returned – perhaps he had escaped the Shadow Realm when Yugi opened the door – and he didn't really care. What he knew was that his body had been forfeit to the will of this madman for too long, and that he was not about to let that happen again.

"Get out." He growled.

"Make me," the spirit taunted, though there was something in his eyes that seemed almost… frightened.

"I said GET! OUT!" The door to Ryou's soul room slammed open, almost breaking off its hinges and the spirit was once again tossed through the air and into the corridor outside. His faded body smashed into a wall, causing its flickering to worsen.

Ryou stalked into the hallway, and with a thought the _other _door flew open to reveal utter darkness. The ancient soul's eyes widened in fear and he lunged at the other man, throwing his incomplete body at his feet, hands grasping at his legs.

"No! No!" the spirit screamed, pulling at the young man's pant legs. "Don't make me go back there! Not the darkness. No!"

There was no more pretence of the dark man that had once governed Ryou's body, all that he saw now was a lost spirit, helpless, weak and frightened. He wasn't even a full soul anymore; just a tattered fragment of what was once a powerful man.

"Why shouldn't I send you back there?" the white-haired man demanded. "After all you did to me, the things you did with my body, why shouldn't I?"

"Don't remember, don't remember…" the spirit mumbled. "Only the darkness, the darkness that tears and hurts, and so alone but NOT alone, the horrible, horrible things in the darkness. Don't make me go back!"

Ryou stared down into pleading, frantic eyes, the shattered soul pawing at his legs like an animal, and he felt pity.

"Please don't send me back," he whimpered.

"You're pathetic," Ryou muttered. The door to darkness swung shut. "If you so much as blink the wrong way, you're out of my mind, got it?"

The spirit nodded enthusiastically, and let go of the other man's legs. Returning to his soul room, Ryou was followed by the fragmented soul. Glaring at his undesired tenant for a moment, he sighed and flopped down on his bed.

"You need a name," he decided, turning over to look at the spirit. "Maybe I should just call you Stupid."

The ancient soul glared at him, flopping down beside the bed.

"No?" Ryou grinned. "How about… Thief? Since that's what you were."

"Thief?" the incomplete man questioned. He took a moment to think the name over, then shrugged.

"Fine, Thief it is then." The white-haired man yawned. "I'm going to go back to sleep now, so don't try anything, or its straight back to the darkness."

Thief peered over the edge of the bed, watching the younger man drift off. "He did something to you, you know."

"Hm?" Ryou asked sleepily.

"The blond man. He did something to your mind."

White eyebrows drew together in a frown. "Marik? He wouldn't do anything to me, I can trust Marik…"

The spirit remained silent after that, staring at his sleeping landlord. After awhile he muttered to himself. "Don't say I didn't warn you. I told you to break away…"

* * *


	7. Chapter Six

**The Polaroid Effect**

Disclaimer: Forgot about these things, ya? Oh well, I do not own it, and nobody gives me money for writing this stuff…

A/N: There are mentions of MarikxRyou in this chapter.

Well! It's certainly been awhile hasn't it? Yes, yes it has… and to think, beyond Yugi's reflections at the start, I wrote this all in one night. Go figure. This chapter isn't as long as I'd like it to be, but at least it's not as short at the first few, eh? My main worry is that I've been gone so long from this that I've forgotten the characterizations of people! So if something seems off to you, please report it!

And just because I feel like a little self-advertising… for anyone who likes my writing, you might want to check out the original stories that I worked on instead of writing this! (Hey, I had school motivation behind those as well as my personal muses XD) I have the links up in my profile if you're interested.

Review replies are now at bottom for convenience! Or something.

Please be reviewing! Now on to fic!

Chapter 6:

_The first time was two nights after I got out of the hospital. I didn't have to pretend to be happy anymore, because with my newfound shadow I was once again whole. I was new and strong and _complete_. And I was also restless. I couldn't stop thinking about that man who had attacked me._

_It wasn't revenge I wanted, not really. It was… closure. I wanted to know who, I wanted to know why, and most of all I wanted to know if the same thing that happened to me would keep happening to other people. No, that's not right. I wanted to make it so that he would never do to another person what he did to me._

_So late one night, when I should have been asleep, I snuck out to look for him. I knew that I probably wouldn't find him, one criminal in a city of thousands, and I never did. But I did find something that night amidst my aimless wanderings._

_That woman. She smiled at me as she walked by and said, "You shouldn't be out this late, little boy. It's dangerous." And I looked at her and it wasn't quite a glare and answered, "Same to you." And she just smirked at me and gave me a peek at the pepper spray in her purse, then walked on. Since I had nothing better to do I decided to follow her._

_Maybe it was some sort of precognition that made me choose that women of all people to follow, I mean crimes aren't that common in Domino. But it just happened that she was the one who met up with the trio of drunken men, and that the little can in her purse did her little good. But I was there._

_I wasn't sure what to do at first, so I just stood and yelled at them. They forgot her for a moment and it didn't take the woman long to slip from their inebriated grasp and run. She cast me a sad grin, full of fear, as she left. I didn't know what to do as they swore and threatened and then came after me._

_But then I remembered who I was, what I was, what I _had_. I was the bearer of the powers of the Shadow Realm. The darkness had chosen _me_ as their vessel. And with that power I could be Judge. I could weigh the souls of humans and deal them their punishment as appropriate. And that's what I did._

_And having done it once, I knew that I had to do it again._

_

* * *

_

"There'll be a private plane arriving in an hour to take you home," Seto said, taking a place at the table he'd reserved in the hotel's dining room. "You should be ready to go in no more than half an hour if you want to make it."

Ryou blinked and looked up from his breakfast. "Take me home…?" he questioned, confusing lacing his voice.

Eyes narrowing Seto replied, "You said you wanted to go."

The white-haired man's express remained blank for a moment before his memory finally served him. "Oh! Yes, yes I did say that, didn't I? Well, I won't need that plane anymore. I'm staying."

"You're… staying," the brunette CEO deadpanned. "After everything you said you just up and changed your mind?"

"Exactly!" Ryou confirmed, smiling sweetly. He then returned to shovelling a surprising amount of food into his slim frame.

Seto may have pursued the topic further had a certain blond miscreant not chosen that moment to sit down at the table with flourish, practically becoming liquid as he draped himself over the chair. "How are all my lovely companions today?" he called, looking over the array of food at the table.

Ryou offered him a smile and a 'good-morning' mumbled from around a mouthful of food. The only response from Seto was a noncommittal grunt. Marik grinned devilishly before wrinkling his nose at a plate of bacon. After piling his plate with food less offensive to his vegetarian palate, the Egyptian spoke, "So, I think I might have an idea on how to find Yugi, now that our dear Ryou has decided to stay around…"

The other occupants of the table turned their attention to the dark-skinned man, even as Ryou continued to stuff his face. "After what happened last time, I think it would be a bad idea to try searching for him directly again." The white-haired man nodded enthusiastically at this. "Instead, I was thinking that maybe you," he nodded at Ryou, "Could just search for the barest impression of his presence and focus on the direction you can feel it from."

Swallowing a mouthful of food, the white-haired man clarified, "Like a compass, you mean." He paused a moment to think. "Yes, I… think I might be able to manage that. With the help of that spell again."

"Good!" the Egyptian gave a toothy grin. "And I might just have something that can stop you from getting your mind dragged out again."

Another sweet smile graced Ryou's face. "Whatever you want Marik. I trust you."

Seto eyed them strangely, polishing off the food on his plate. "When you're done, come up to my room and we'll get started. I'll go wake up the mutt."

Ryou watched at the tall brunette strode off before placing his fork down next to his plate. His gaze lingered for a moment on his now empty plate then rose to meet his companion's lavender eyes. The dark skinned man quirked a gold brow in askance. A blush tinted pale skin as Ryou began to speak, "Ah… Marik, did… did something… happen last night? I mean… between us?"

Marik tilted his head, and replied, "Not that I know of. Why, what did you think happened?"

The blush deepened. "Oh nothing. It's just- It's nothing." Uncomfortable silenced stretched, and the white-haired man's hands twisted nervously in his napkin. He was sure that he remember something, that maybe they had- But no. Marik said nothing had happened, and he trusted Marik, therefore nothing had happened. And yet- _he trusted Marik_. But-! Ryou's hands tightened suddenly around the napkin and a tremor washed over his body. Then the tension was gone and his body relaxed. He _did_ trust Marik, he really did.

At the back of his mind Thief snorted, _Idiot._

_Are you that keen on going back to the Shadow Realm?_

The voice fell silent. _That's better_, Ryou thought at him.

"Well, I think I'll go up to Kaiba's room," the white-haired man said. "I'll see you in a bit."

Long after the kind-hearted man had left, Marik stayed staring sullenly into his breakfast. There was that guilty feeling again. Why had he lied to his friend again, anyway? It wouldn't have been the end of the world if he had let Ryou know they'd had sex… but then, thinking about them having sex might have led him to thinking about _why_ they'd had sex… and the spell he'd cast wasn't as strong as he'd like it to be. For a moment there, when Ryou had tensed up, he had thought that the compulsion might crack but thankfully it had held.

_Don't worry buddy_, the Egyptian thought to himself, _I'll keep you safe, and just as soon as this is over with I'll let you go and be on with your life. Then you'll be safe, even from mind-tampering men like me._

_

* * *

_

"What exactly are we gonna do with him when we find him anyway?" Joey Wheeler asked as the group strolled down the sidewalk. Ryou was caught up in following the ghostly trace of Yugi in his mind, and Kaiba appeared to ignore him. Only his fellow blond seemed to be paying attention.

"Don't worry, babe," Marik said, one of his devilish grins gracing his face, "I've got it covered."

"Oh yeah?" Joey asked. "How? I mean, Yugi's got the whole Shadow Realm behind him right? What the hell are we supposed to do against that?"

"Getting cold feet, mutt?" Kaiba put in.

"No way!" the tall blonde answered, affronted. "I'm gonna make that nut face justice no matter what! I'm just wondering, is all."

The brunette snorted, and Joey glared darkly at him. Marik merely grinned wider and waved his notepad at them. "Don't worry about it. Like I said, I've got it covered."

Joey looked sceptical for a moment then sighed. "Well alright. I'm still not sure about all this new magic though. If anything happens to me I'm coming back as a spirit to beat you up."

"Gotcha!" the Egyptian responded, before skipping ahead to walk beside Ryou. "So you're sure he's still in the city?"

"As sure as I can be," the white-haired man answered, sounding preoccupied. "And if not, he's not far out of it."

"I wonder why he stuck around, even after meeting up with Bakura?" Joey pondered allowed. "Does he think we'd be frightened enough to leave him alone, or something?"

"It's what any sane person would have done," Kaiba said, earning another glare.

"That," Ryou began, voice seeming far away, "Or maybe we aren't enough of a threat for him to care."

* * *

He was sitting on the edge of the road enjoying a sandwich – well, perhaps not enjoying. He had bought the thing from a gas station and it tasted rather like lightly flavoured cardboard… however, he was consuming it all the same – when he felt it wrap around him. The power curled about his waist, passing over his wrists and ankles, and dragged him into the air, holding him suspended and immobile. Violet eyes examined the invisible bonds curiously then turned to scan the horizon.

The city was still visible, though it was little more than a few ragged silhouettes against the sky. In front of that, barely within range of his vision were four figures making their way toward him. Ah, so that's why he hadn't sensed them. They were far enough off that distracted as he was by his abysmal sandwich his awareness hadn't reached them.

It made him sad that they had done this, when he realized who the four figures were. He really wished they had left well enough alone. They would have been fine if they had just left him alone.

Oh well, he had warned them and they had brought this upon themselves.

* * *

"Hello everyone," Yugi greeted as the group reached him, suspended in midair by the spell Marik had cast as soon as he came into sight. "Interesting trick you picked up, Marik."

"It's a great hit at parties," the Egyptian replied, though there was little playfulness in his voice. His companions remained silent, Joey glaring fiercely, Seto gazing impassively at his old rival, Ryou staring fixedly at the ground between his feet.

Yugi's attention turned from the dark-skinned man, falling on the rest of the group. "Why do you think you're here? Do you think you're pursuing the path of Truth and Justice, hunting me down, trapping me here?"

"Yeah," Joey said, voice trembling. "That's exactly why we're here. To see you get what you deserve. You killed people, Yugi! You killed- You used to be my friend, but that person is gone now, and all that's left is a monster, and- and I'm gonna make sure you can't hurt anyone else."

Violet eyes danced with amusement and flicked to Seto, "Is that what you think to Kaiba?"

"Something like that," the brunette responded gruffly.

The black-haired man's head tilted back as a deep laughed bubbled up from his chest. Laughter dieing down to a chuckle, Yugi spoke again, "Oh I expected this level of gullibility from Joey, but you Kaiba? And to think you were my rival once. So I ask, why are you here? Literally I mean."

Joey stared at the man who was once his friend, confusion written across his face. "What the hell are you talking about? Bakura led us here."

"Yes," Yugi said, voice dropping, "Bakura…"

Ryou shuddered, goosebumps rising on his arms.

"But that's not what I'm talking about," the small man continued. "Now, _I_ know why you're all here, but do you?"

Joey's confusion deepened, but Seto's eyes widened a fraction before narrowing and darting over to Marik. The Egyptian's face was drawing down into a frown. "I'm going to knock him out now," the dark-skinned man stated, flipping through the pages of his notebook.

"Marik, Marik, Marik," Yugi chided, shaking his head. "How much did they pay you?"

The Egyptian was outright scowling now, Seto's glance turned into a suspicious glare. Ryou's head had shot up, eyes wide in shock. Joey continued to glower at his ex-friend, though an element of uncertainty had crept into it, and he asked, "Marik, what is he talking about?"

The dark-skinned blond didn't answering, instead beginning to belt out words that made the air thrum. Yugi tilted his head to one side, a look of consideration on his face. Then one corner of his mouth twitched upward and he was no longer suspended in the air.

There was an impression of something lashing through the air and Ryou fell to his knees screaming. The group barely had time to swear before another lash was felt, and then Ryou was no longer screaming and his eyes rolled back into his skull and he was falling limply to the dirt.

Marik had frozen when he felt the bonds on Yugi break, but his friend's screaming had thrown him into action. Reaching into his pocket with one hand, he snagged Ryou's collar as the boy fell. Bowling into his other two companions, his free hand drew out a piece of paper, dark symbols painted on both sides. He raised it to his mouth, making sure he was touching everyone, and tore it in half with his teeth.

Violet eyes watched, annoyed, as light flashed and his pursuers disappeared.

* * *

Everyone was in a panic as they reappeared in Seto's apartment. Joey was flailing and screaming obscenities, Kaiba resting in shock for a moment before shouting at the blond to shut the hell up. Marik only had eyes for the pale-haired man in his arms, who he was shaking wildly.

"Ryou! Ryou are you okay?" he yelled, "Ryou! Say something!"

The remaining members of the group fell silent, their attention turning to the lifeless man Marik was holding. For a moment no one breathed, waiting. Then a pale finger twitched, and dark brown eyes split open.

The tension in the room split, and an audible sigh was released… and then pale lips curled into an uncharacteristically wicked smile. The white-haired man sat up slowly, little sanity lurking behind his eyes.

"No, I'm sorry," he said. "Ryou isn't home right now."

* * *

Thankies to my reviewers:

Shinigami

Alaskantiger

AzzieAz: Marik preformed some sort of spell-thing forcing Ryou to trust him. Was I too vague again? I seem to do that a lot…

A lilmatchgirl

Spidy007

LeDiz

SoulDreamer

Citrus luver: His fragmented soul hitched a ride back during Ryou's debacle with the Shadow Realm.

Silvershadowfire

Batbabe1

Much love and cybercookies to you all!


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